NEW YORK – For a few minutes, three was a good number for the Butler Bulldogs. A flurry of 3-pointers allowed them to erase Providence’s 12-point lead and go ahead by three themselves.
Then Ben Bentil happened.
Then three became a bad number: 0-3 against Providence this season, 0-3 in Big East basketball tournament history.
Bentil scored 23 of his 38 points in the second half, and the Friars ran away to a 74-60 victory Thursday in a quarterfinal at Madison Square Garden. Bentil’s output equaled the second-highest in the tourney’s 37-year history.
Butler (21-10) is almost certainly in the NCAA tournament field that will be announced Sunday.